


Hallelujah

by steggyisimmortal



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fix It Fic, holiday fic, sometimes Howard can be a great guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steggyisimmortal/pseuds/steggyisimmortal
Summary: Peggy is at the Jarvis household for Christmas when someone familiar knocks on the door.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I asked for Christmas prompts last year and I finally got around to fulfilling this one that andrastesgrace asked for.
> 
> I may have listened to the Pentatonix cover of Hallelujah a lot while writing this.

The flames licked at the thin logs, the colors dancing together in the small fireplace.  The apartment the Jarvis’s called their home was a far cry from the surroundings Mr. Jarvis found himself around every day.  The space was perfectly suited to them – not too large but not overly crowded.  The walls were warm and inviting, masculine but with a distinct feminine touch in the decorating.  The two styles meshed perfectly. 

 

A melancholy smile graced Peggy’s face.  She was grateful no one was around to see it.

 

She hadn’t expected to long so much around the holiday season.  It started around Thanksgiving.  The holiday meant nothing to her personally.  It was a day off from work so people could eat supper together.  She had to admit it was enjoyable listening to the parade on the wireless, though.

 

The memories made her wistful.  Memories of Steve and his fellow Americans speaking lovingly of their traditions while they were thousands of miles away.  She thought she had pushed her feelings aside, that she had cried her share of tears, but everything came rushing back to her alone in her apartment listening to the small wireless.

 

The sense that something – _someone_ – was missing only increased as the days approached Christmas. 

 

Couples in love seemed to be everywhere.  Peggy despised them all.  She didn’t consider herself to be a jealous person but there was no denying the green monster taking over when she scurried past a slow couple walking hand in hand on the sidewalk.  They all had the one thing she lacked.  

 

She needed Steve. 

 

Too often she found herself lost in the ‘what ifs’ of the future and the memories of the past.  It was a dreadful path to be on.  She was grateful Mr. Jarvis seemed to recognize something was off with her.  He invited her to Christmas supper with him and Mrs. Jarvis.  Howard was supposedly out of the country.  Peggy hadn’t heard from him in months but Mr. Jarvis didn’t seem concerned so she didn’t fret over it.  That man never stayed in one place for long anymore.

 

The disturbance of the sofa cushions distracted Peggy from the fire.  Ana sat next to her, a glass of mulled wine in both hands.  Wordlessly, she pressed one into Peggy’s hand.  She enjoyed Ana.  They were opposites but the vivaciousness of the redheaded woman was contagious.  She possessed an optimism Peggy sometimes felt she’d lost.

 

She seemed to sense something off with Peggy.  Peggy didn't know what she would prefer - to ignore her melancholy entirely or to acknowledge her sense of loss.  She had been doing wonderfully so far bearing it in silence.  Many simply assumed she was one of the many who had lost someone in the war when her smile didn't seem to shine as bright when faced with the engagement of a new couple.  They would never understand it wasn't just someone that she'd lost but the only one.  

 

Here she was among friends.  Mr. Jarvis certainly understood her feelings.  He was one of the few close to her, both in location and emotionally, who understood why she would suddenly fall silent.  She knew he hadn't said a word to Ana about Steve.  That was Peggy's information to share and he wouldn't betray her confidence.  She had grown closer to Ana, though.  It might be nice to speak to a woman who understood a bit about what it felt like to lose the man they cherished above all.  If only Peggy's story had ended the way Ana's had.

 

The doorbell rang before Ana could speak.  The sound of Mr. Jarvis's footsteps fell over the room as he went to answer the door.  

 

“Ah, Mr. Stark,” she heard Jarvis greet.  “So nice to see you’ve returned home safe and sound.”

 

Ana and Peggy rose from the couch to greet him.  Howard came around the corner looking just as she remembered him.  He opened his arms wide when he saw her. 

 

“Peggy!  You made it!”

 

She accepted his brief embrace before looking at him quizzically. 

 

“Where have you been?  It’s not like you to disappear without telling even Mr. Jarvis where you’ve gone.”

 

In typical Howard fashion he brushed aside her question. 

 

“Just something I had to take care of.  Ooh, is that cheese?”  Peggy rolled her eyes.  At least it wasn’t booze he was after.  She watched while he picked around a platter of cheese on a small table.  “Anyway, Peg, I’m glad you’re here.  I have a present for you.”

 

"How did you know I would be here?"

 

"You're British. Jarvis is British.  I figured the two of you would band together against American traditions.  Turns out I was right."

 

“I’m not sure I want whatever you call a present.”

 

“Normally that’s true,” he agreed.  He had a smile on his face she hadn’t seen in a while.  She didn’t care for it directed towards her.  “This time I guarantee you’ll want my present.”

 

She was almost positive she didn’t.  Howard’s idea of a gift was usually something so heinously inappropriate one never knew what to say.  His smile, though.  That was his “I’m a genius and everyone should bow down to me” smile.  She saw it a lot during the war.  Usually after he invented something no one dared dream was possible.  For a while, every time he looked at Steve after the procedure that smile was there.  She remembered it infuriating her then.  It was somewhat refreshing to know her reaction hadn’t changed.

 

She quirked her brow at him and motioned around the room.  “Well?  Where is this present?”

 

“At the door.”

 

Her displeasure at having to go into the cold must have shown on her face because Mr. Jarvis offered to fetch it for her. 

 

“No, no, Peg has to get it,” Howard insisted.  “It was too heavy and hard to wrap so I just left it out there.”

 

“Why on earth is she getting it by herself then?” Jarvis protested on her behalf.

 

“Because it’s a surprise!  Where’s your holiday spirit, Jarv?  Trust me; she’ll be fine.”

 

Pursing her lips, she walked to the door against her better judgement.  She wouldn’t put it past the man to leave a small explosive at the door for her to disarm as a joke.

 

In the small alcove by the door she saw nothing.  The door was shut and the alcove looked as it did when she entered a few hours ago.

 

“I don’t see it.”

 

“Well geez Peg, you gotta open the door.  What, do I gotta make a sign for you?  I thought you were smart.”

 

Closing her eyes, she bit back the retort on her lips.  She could hear Mr. Jarvis telling Howard a more polite version of her insult.  Not that it mattered.  The man had no scruples. 

 

Sighing, she grabbed the handle and tugged the door open slowly. 

 

Her eyes met a pair of shoes standing on the pavement. 

 

It wasn’t just the shoes, though.  They were attached to a pair of legs.  Confused, she drew her eyes up, thinking someone had the wrong address. 

 

She opened her mouth to tell them so but she never got the chance.

 

Her hand flew to her mouth just as a gasp escaped.  Her grip on the door tightened because she knew if she let go she would collapse to the floor.

 

“Merry Christmas, Peggy.”

 

It wasn’t possible.  Everything she had dreamed of for over a year.  Her deepest desire.  She was ashamed to realize in that moment that she’d given up her hope.  It wasn’t healthy to hold on to something she knew logically wouldn’t come true.  Her heart longed, though.  It was all that filled her dreams at night.  It didn’t matter how much time had passed. 

 

A dream.  It had to be a dream.  She had just had the most vivid dream last night.  She hadn’t wanted to wake up.  She wanted to lie in bed forever and stay in that moment where everything was perfect and exactly how she’d pictured.  This was simply a continuation.  It had to be.

 

It was just a dream.

 

She blinked but the image didn’t go away.  Her tears were blurring her vision but the image was still there.  She reached out a hand until it made contact.  She choked back a shaky sob.

 

“Steve?”

 

His hand closed over hers and he smiled.  The same dashing smile she remembered.  

 

“Yeah, Peg.  It’s really me.”

 

She stepped closer.  She didn’t feel the cold or the wind.  The warmth from him told her he was real.  This was her Steve standing in front of her.  She ran her fingers over his face, familiarizing herself with his features after such a long time.  He felt the same – his skin smooth but his jaw with the hint of his stubble returning.  His hair was still soft but his hairstyle wasn’t quite the same.  It was choppy in places in the front but she could tell it was growing back as fast as it could.

 

She ran her thumbs over his mouth.  The same full, familiar lips.  She found his eyes last.  The same warm, blue eyes she loved to stare into.  The same eyes that spoke to her more than words ever could.  No photograph could ever replicate the emotions behind those eyes. 

 

She started to say something but she stopped herself at the last second.

 

“You’re late,” she told him crisply.  She tilted her chin with a shaky confidence she didn’t completely feel.  “Supper was at eight o’clock sharp.”

 

He shrugged with the roguish cockiness he saved for her.  She could feel the emotion taking over her insides at the sight.  It drove her mad but she thought she’d never have the chance to see that look again.

 

“You know how I like to make an entrance.”  He tugged her closer to him until she was in his arms.   His palm cupped her cheek and lifted her face towards him.  His thumb wiped away the tears she hadn’t realized were falling, tears that were reflected in his eyes. “I hope you saved a place for me,” he whispered.

 

She nodded.  “I believe so,” she said, her voice barely audible. 

 

“Good,” he murmured against her lips before they covered them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
